Casino reports income for February
Saratoga Casino Hotel reported numbers for February 2021: $105.82 million total credits played at the Video Lottery terminals. That netted $7.62 million after paying out winnings. The Video Lottery Terminal tax on that (the “Education Contribution”) was $3.54 million. The total VLT paid in year-to-date: $6.88 million. [Coverage of VLT and the Springs’ budget is here.]
Task Force approves final report
Steve Thurston (2021)
The Saratoga Springs Police Reform Task Force has voted on the 42 recommendations and submitted the report to the city council for review, which has until April 1 to read, revise, approve and then send the report to Governor Cuomo’s office. The task force was formed under the governor’s executive order #203 last year during the height of the Black Lives Matter protests that rocked the country. All local police and sheriffs offices were required to look at uses of force, transparency in reporting interactions and abuse, and other police activities. The city says that video from the meeting this week will be available Monday.
Jason Golub, a co-chair of the task force, said in an interview today that they voted to approve most of the report as it has been seen on the task force website with some “narrowing” of the language in the Community Reinvention section.
"We're trying to make these [recommendations] as actionable as possible,” he said. The changes allowed for pilot programs and tests as opposed to a list of permanent recommendations.
"When you frame it as a pilot program, it's easier to get it by a city council,” he said. It’s "not ‘do this’ but ‘try this.’” [Read our earlier coverage here.]
Marion Ave Mobil, Stewart's Shop moving and makeover
The Saratoga Springs Planning Board will take a closer look at the zoning on the north side of the Marion Avenue and Route 50 intersection near Loughberry Lake. A rezoning in that area is necessary as they continue to consider a plan put forward by Stewart's Shops.
Under the plan, the current Stewart’s Shop and East Side Wine and Spirits liquor store would move from Maple Dell onto Marion Ave.
As well, the car wash currently on Marion Avenue and the Marion Avenue Mobil will be rebuilt into one unit. The building will face in such a way as to lessen the noise that drifts west toward the residential section of Marion Avenue, the documents say. Stewart’s Shops owns the Marion Avenue Mobil.
The current Stewart’s Shop on Maple Dell has been there since 1971. It attracts traffic into the residential neighborhood, and the plan tries to eliminate some of that. The building may become a medical office.
The area is thought of as a “gateway” to the city, planners said during their workshop Thursday evening March 4. It is the first commercial intersection between the Northway Exit 15 and the city. Plans look to accentuate the gateway feel, planners and the documents say.
The trouble currently is a confusion of zoning and codes in that area. Stewart’s Shops is proposing a rezoning of the area to a Planned Use Development. The planning board will look at that during their meeting next week.
Excelsior Park townhouse, apartments
Also on the docket for the Saratoga Springs Planning Board is the Excelsior Park development on Excelsior Avenue and Ormandy Lane, just west of the Northway at Exit 15. The first two phases of what had been a 10-phase development are complete. The Residence Inn/Marriott of Saratoga Springs was part of that plan.
The new phase will see numerous townhomes, a mixed use building, an apartment building and a restaurant.